In this installment of the Retirement 101 Blog series, we’ll discuss what to do once you’re ready to access your income during retirement.
Many people look at retirement as a single event they are planning for. But retirement is really only the beginning of the next part of your journey—and the planning doesn’t end once you get there. As you approach – or enter – retirement, you need to determine the best way to take income without depleting all your assets.
You will likely want to reduce the risks you’re taking with your investments and increase your focus on options that generate income. Perhaps you’re thinking about bonds, as they provide regular income. But in today’s environment, individual bonds may not provide the income level you need.
One option is to consider bond exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Bond ETFs may provide more income than individual bonds, since they may invest in a variety of bonds with different interest rates, maturing at different times. They can provide professional management and other benefits as well. And as we’ve discussed previously, ETFs can offer lower fees, transparency and many other potential benefits that can make them strong choices for retirement.
Another option is to consider dividend ETFs. In today’s economy, dividend-paying stocks may offer higher yields than bonds. And dividend ETFs, such as those from WisdomTree, which are weighted by Dividend Stream® rather than by market cap, may offer even more income. And this fact alone can make a significant difference in a portfolio’s ability to generate income.
For example, the dividend-weighted portfolio below generates approximately 30% more dividend income and almost 1% more dividend yield than the market cap-weighted option. What’s more—it does this using the same three stocks and the same initial investment.
Both bond ETFs and dividend ETFs can provide more regular income, offering monthly or quarterly interest or dividend payouts, respectively—critical when you’re looking for regular income in retirement.
This post was republished with permission from the WisdomTree blog.